2050 Kids (sometimes styled 2050kids) is an environmentalist advocacy group aligned with various left-of-center organizations.  It admits to demanding a “radical” shift in global environmental focus.¹

Organizational Overview

2050 Kids focuses on the year 2050, making dire predictions based on climate change.  Among other alarmist claims, the group argues “billions of people risk displacement” and “over 1/3 of all plant and animal species face extinction.”²

In addition to environmental activism, 2050 Kids attempts to connect climate change policy to poverty and inequality, endorsing a number of development proposals adopted by the United Nations in September 2015.³

Funding

The most recent available tax filings by 2050 Kids showed revenue of $101,920 and expenditures of $31,627.⁴ The end-of-year fund balance for 2015 was therefore $70,293.⁵

Professional fees and other payments to independent contractors accounted for $11,842 of the organization’s expenditures.⁶

People

Founder

The founder and chairman of the board is Deborah Phelan.⁷ In addition to founding 2050 Kids, she has been involved with numerous environmentalist advocacy groups, including Millenaire: The Third Millennium Education Project, FluidArts, the WiserEarth Advisory Board, CGIAR’s Global Landscape Forum, the Post Carbon Institute, the Earth Island Institute, and the Society of Environmental Journalists.⁸

Other Staff

Lizzy Leighty serves as the treasurer of 2050 Kids.⁹ In addition, she works for San Francisco based Community Initiatives, which provides services to some of the Bay Area’s most left-wing organizations.¹⁰ Sean Adams serves as secretary.¹¹ Gregory Serandos serves as a board member.¹²

In addition to her role as program manager for 2050 Kids, Sydney Skov has been involved in global development issues. After earning her M.A. in Sustainable International Development, she served as a Boren Fellow in Kolkata, India, where she worked for a non-profit “using dance therapy as rehabilitation.”¹³ While in India, she built the Free Body Project to support organizations “using dance as a resource for social justice through film and community.”¹⁴

Alex Leader serves as the organization’s program associate.  Prior to taking his current role, he worked with other left-leaning non-governmental organizations such as Interactive Activism, Oxfam America, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the World Affairs Council.¹⁵

James Greyson is an advisor to 2050 Kids and is involved with several other left-wing environmental groups. He is founder and head of BlindSpot Think Tank, a research fellow at Earth Systems Governance, and associate at MIT Climate CoLab.¹⁶

1. “2050kids.” 2050kids. Accessed July 24, 2018. https://2050kids.org/.
2. “The Need For Urgent Action.” 2050kids. November 18, 2015. Accessed July 24, 2018. https://2050kids.org/why-the-urgency/.
3. “Our Mission.” 2050kids. September 11, 2016. Accessed July 24, 2018. https://2050kids.org/our-mission/.
4. 2050Kids Inc., Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2015, Part I Lines 1 and 17.
5. 2050Kids Inc., Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2015, Part I Line 21.
6. 2050Kids Inc., Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2015, Part I Line 13.
7. “Our Team.” 2050kids. June 01, 2018. Accessed July 24, 2018. https://2050kids.org/our-team/.
8. “Our Team.” 2050kids. June 01, 2018. Accessed July 24, 2018. https://2050kids.org/our-team/.
9. “Our Team.” 2050kids. June 01, 2018. Accessed July 24, 2018. https://2050kids.org/our-team/.
10. “Fiscally Sponsored Projects.” Community Initiatives. June 29, 2018. Accessed July 24, 2018. http://communityin.org/our-projects/support-a-project/.
11. [1] “Our Team.” 2050kids. June 01, 2018. Accessed July 24, 2018. https://2050kids.org/our-team/.
12. [1] “Our Team.” 2050kids. June 01, 2018. Accessed July 24, 2018. https://2050kids.org/our-team/.
13. [1] “Our Team.” 2050kids. June 01, 2018. Accessed July 24, 2018. https://2050kids.org/our-team/.
14. “Our Team.” 2050kids. June 01, 2018. Accessed July 24, 2018. https://2050kids.org/our-team/.
15. [1] “Our Team.” 2050kids. June 01, 2018. Accessed July 24, 2018. https://2050kids.org/our-team/.
16. [1] “Our Team.” 2050kids. June 01, 2018. Accessed July 24, 2018. https://2050kids.org/our-team/.